Akureyri Bans Roosters - The Reykjavik Grapevine

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Akureyri Bans Roosters

A town ordinance takes a hard line when it comes to owning a rooster as a pet, drafted in response to numerous residential complaints.
Akureyri, while being the most populated town in the north of Iceland – and often dubbed “the capital of the north”, is still in many ways a rural community. One such way that the town reflects this rural mentality is the apparent plethora of roosters being kept as pets. The practice has become so popular, RÚV reports, that town council has had to address the issue with a new ordinance.
According to the new regulation, no one will any longer be allowed to own a rooster as a pet unless they own a legally registered farm. People will also be required to apply for a licence for a chicken house, and receive permission from neighbours to own such animals.
Chairman of the environmental department of Akureyri Jón Birgir Gunnlaugsson told reporters that the ordinance was necessary after the town council received a number of complaints from townspeople about the noise made by their neighbours’ roosters. At the same time, interest in raising the animals has being growing, as twenty people recently sought classes in their upbringing.
The growing popularity of roosters in Akureyri necessitated changes in environmental legislation, Jón concluded.

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